1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soap holder, and more particularly, to a bracket for readily and reliably receiving and magnetically suspending a bar of soap between uses.
2. Background Art
Conventional designs for appliances include dishes of various configurations dedicated to hold bars of soap. After use, surface tension initially encases a bar of soap with a film of water. Generally, conventional designs of soap dishes also retain fluids such as water draining from the film initially clinging by surface tension to the bar of soap. Consequently, even with soap dishes having ribs or self-draining basket inserts, after several intermittent uses of the bar of soap, excessive water accumulates within such dishes, undesirably permitting the bar of soap to lie within the water that has drained from the bar, thereby resulting in partial dissolution of the bar over a period of time into a pool of liquid.
A more recent approach to storage of bars of soap between uses has a small diameter magnet positioned outwardly by a wall mounted bracket to engage and suspend a small metal cap pressed into an upper surface of a bar of soap. In this design, the exposed areas of the magnet and the metal cap are substantially identical and equal in surface area. It has been my observation that unless the exposed areas of the magnet and the metal cap are nearly precisely coaxially aligned, the bracket will "drop" the bar of soap once the bar is released from the hand of the user.
By way of explanation, I have observed that properties probably associated with magnetism such as, perhaps the diminution of magnetic force as a function of distance, as well as the self-centering characteristics of the magnet, require a user to almost precisely position the metal cap in near coaxial alignment with the center of the magnet before releasing the bar of soap, otherwise the bracket will "drop" the bar of soap once the bar has been released from the user's hand, even if the user has managed to have the metal cap touch the magnet before releasing the bar of soap. Consequently, I have found that this design requires greater manual dexterity than is often available from a user, and is that it is accordingly difficult for children, the infirm and aged persons to use, particularly when as is often the case after use of the bar of soap, the bar of soap is wet, very slippery, and is thus extremely difficult for even a very coordinated, healthy adult to grasp. Sometimes, a physically challenged individual must use both hands to return the bar of soap to the bracket. Furthermore, the metal cap has jagged edges to facilitate its insertion into the bar of soap; it seems to me therefore, that there is always an unnecessary risk that if removed from the bar of soap by a child, either that the jagged edges of the cap could injure a child (e.g., particularly if the cap has been dropped onto a bathroom floor and stepped upon by a barefooted child) or that the smallness of the metal cap will enable a child to swallow the cap.